Uncategorized

Creating The Great Library and Museum of Alexandria

Posted by

0

Alexander the Great established Greek rule in Egypt and founded the city that still bears his name today, Alexandria. After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., his close friend and army general Ptolemy I ruled Egypt. 

Ptolemy sought to create a learning center in Alexandria that would outdo any others in the ancient world. He tried with great success to acquire a copy of every text that existed. Some of these texts were supposedly stolen from ships docked at Alexandria. However they were acquired, each text was cataloged and placed in the library of Alexandria. Though no official number of texts exists, the library likely contained 100,000 scrolls or more. The number of texts made the library of Alexandria the largest of the ancient world. All of Homer’s works were kept there in addition to the works of ancient playwrights.

Next door to the library was the museum, which meant temple to the muses who were Greek goddesses of the arts and sciences. The greatest scholars in the world met there to exchange ideas. Unlike most scholars today, they didn’t worry about how they would make a living because the palace supplied them with money. 

The library and its museum was the site of many new discoveries. The sun was fixed at the center of the solar system, geometry was formed, the circumference of the earth was measured for the first time, constellations were mapped, and the brain was recognized as the source of human intelligence (previously intellect was thought to come from the heart). Unfortunately the library was destroyed, probably by fire, and many sources from the ancient world were lost forever.

 

 

 

The First Egyptian Pyramid

Posted by

0

Until the reign of the pharaoh Djoser in the Third Dynasty, the tombs of elite Egyptians were rectangular structures made of mud-brick. These tombs, called mastabas, included a burial chamber as well as a space for grave goods the tomb’s owner could use in the afterlife. Though mastabas may have been good enough for the early pharaohs, Djoser wanted his tomb to stand out among his predecessors. The task of planning a grander burial place for the pharaoh fell to his architect, Imhotep.

Imhotep’s design originally resembled a traditional mastaba, but from the start it had some important differences. For example, unlike the earlier rectangular mastabas, which were made of mud-brick, Imhotep planned a solid, square structure made of stone. The original mastaba was extended on all four sides, forming a two-stepped mastaba. Angling the bricks towards the center of the pyramid, the mastaba became the bottom step of a four-stepped pyramid. When the base was extended a final time, the six-step pyramid was complete. 

Djoser’s six-step pyramid stood almost 200 feet tall and was the tallest structure in Egypt until other pharaohs tried to outdo him with pyramids and monuments of their own. With its steps leading up to the heavens, the pyramid implied the pharaoh’s close connection to the Egyptian gods. By building the first pyramid, both Djoser and his architect Imhotep ensured their places in history as powerful and inventive men.

 To learn more about Egyptian pyramids and their builders, see Pyramids by Joyce Tyldesley.

 

The Making of a President: George Washington’s Childhood

Posted by

2

Unlike other presidents who left records of their childhoods, we know very little about George Washington’s youth. The lack of information has led some stories that are not true about his childhood to pass for what really happened. For example, there is no evidence that George Washington confessed to his father that he cut down a cherry tree, saying, “I cannot tell a lie.” The only thing known for certain about George’s relationship with his father was that it ended when his father died suddenly. George was only eleven years old, and as a younger son he was not supposed to inherit the family estate, known today as Mount Vernon. 

Though he would inherit Mount Vernon eventually, George spent his youth with his mother in a six-room farmhouse near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Although there was a college nearby, George never attended it and only received an elementary school education. His lack of official instruction bothered him during the Revolution when he met other colonists who had more education than he did.

George’s older half brother, Lawrence indirectly influenced the man George Washington would later become. Lawrence had married into the Fairfax family, and one of the Fairfax cousins gave George his first job in 1748. During his work surveying Fairfax property in the Shenandoah Valley, sixteen-year-old George started his now famous diary. He wrote about the conditions of the country, stating that he “went into the Bed as they call’d it when to my Surprize I found it to be nothing but a Little Straw.”

Though he would endure some hardship away from home at times, George was not destined to be a poor younger son. Lawrence died young and George inherited his land. George did not want to sit at home, however. When Lawrence was ill, he applied for a small post in the Virginia militia. Despite his lack of experience, the same Fairfax cousin vouched for his character. Since Lawrence’s death created an opening in the military, Virginia’s governor decided to accept George. Major George Washington left for the west within a year.

 

 

Abraham Lincoln’s Education

Posted by

0

Abraham Lincoln, 1858

Abraham Lincoln, 1858

“What he has in the way of education, he has picked up.” Abraham Lincoln wrote this statement in a 3,000 word autobiography during his presidential campaign. At the age of ten, he attended school in Indiana, but school terms were far shorter than they are today. Abraham might attend school for one to three months in the winter and then he would be expected to help out on the family farm.

Trying to learn anything in just a few months each year was hard enough, but to make things worse country teachers were not always well educated. Lincoln remembered, “no qualification was ever required of a teacher, beyond readin, writin, and cipherin.” The educational system did not help most children become interested in learning. Abraham, however, was not like most children.

Though he did develop some talent for farm chores like chopping wood, Abraham was most interested in reading. He was not ashamed to beg others to let him take one of their books home with him. The chores he had meant that young Abe often stayed up late or got up early to read. Some of the books he read, like Robinson Crusoe and Aesop’s Fables, are still read by schoolchildren today. His stepmother, who supported his reading efforts, remembered that Abe had a scrapbook in which he would write down quotes that he liked and wanted to remember.

As he entered his teenage years, Abe also developed a talent for public speaking. When he attended church with his family, he would pay close attention to the sermon. After church, he would recite what the preacher said to a small audience of other children. Although no one could have predicted it at the time, Abraham’s habits of reading, writing and reciting would prove invaluable when he became president.

Cleopatra’s Education

Posted by

22

When the Greeks ruled Egypt in the first century B.C., they stressed education for both royal boys and girls. Cleopatra and her sisters received the same education as their brothers in case one of the girls would rule Egypt. Living in the city of Alexandria, home of a great library, Cleopatra had access to the best teachers and great works of literature.

First, young Cleopatra chanted the Greek alphabet. When she successfully learned the alphabet, she traced its letters on a wooden tablet. Teachers then gave her difficult words to read aloud so she would learn syllables. Like children today, Cleopatra knew Aesop’s fables well. Sometimes teachers in the first century B.C. assigned a tale to their students and asked them to retell it aloud. Public speaking skills were highly regarded at the time, and historians have remarked on Cleopatra’s ability to speak well in front of others.

As Cleopatra grew up, she decided that she would also learn to speak and read Egyptian. Amazingly, there is no record of previous Greek rulers of Egypt learning the language of the people they governed. This was probably because Egyptian writing was so complex. Cleopatra, however, did not want to rely on others to interpret what the Egyptians were saying.

Historians state that Cleopatra learned languages easily; one says that she could speak nine of them. Ancient historian Plutarch said that “It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another.” By receiving a good education, Cleopatra communicated easily with other rulers when she became queen of Egypt.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Posted by

0

In April 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for taking part in a civil rights protest. African-Americans in Birmingham, Alabama had few rights. They were not allowed to enter certain stores and the police would not investigate the bombings of African-Americans’ homes or churches by angry whites. Martin Luther King, Jr. organized a non-violent protest in this city to draw attention to the injustices that blacks experienced.

While in jail, he wrote a letter to white Alabama pastors who thought that legalized separation of blacks and whites, known as segregation, should not be protested. They felt that the courts should decide whether the laws of segregation were just. In his letter, King explains that there are two types of laws: just (fair) laws, and unjust (unfair) laws.

He explains that a just law is one that all citizens have a vote on and must follow. An unjust law is a law that only a minority needs to follow whether they can vote on it or not.  For example, he was arrested for parading without a permit. While he sees nothing wrong with a requirement for parade permits, he points out that this law was being used to squash the right of African-Americans to protest for equal rights.

King does not, however, advocate that African-Americans break laws just for the fun of it or out of bitterness for their poor treatment. Instead, they would have to be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. He writes, “One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly…and with a willingness to accept the penalty.” King was accepting the penalty of an unjust law by calmly sitting in jail for his part in the protest.

History, King points out, is full of unjust laws. For example, Hitler’s mistreatment of the Jews was legal for a long time. With the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious that Hitler’s laws were unjust. In the same way, segregation laws would be viewed as unjust someday. Thanks to King and other civil rights leaders, the injustice of segregation is obvious to Americans today.  

 

Who Wrote Auld Lang Syne and What does it Mean?

Posted by

1

Many people believe that the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote the song sung in many English-speaking countries on New Year’s Eve. Although Burns added to the song we sing today, he was not responsible for the original content. Instead, it is a version of an old ballad that Burns reworked to create the song we attempt to sing today. The phrase Auld Lang Syne also appears in the work of other poets who wrote before Burns.

Despite its popularity on New Year’s Eve, few people know the words to the song, or what they really mean. The phrase Auld Lang Syne means literally old long ago. In other words, it refers to days gone by. Although there are other verses, on New Year’s Eve in the U.S. typically the first verse and the chorus are sung, though often incorrectly. You can use the translation from the World Burns Club to impress your family at midnight. Verse one of the original song reads: 

Should old acquaintances be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And auld lang syne?

 

Translation:

Should old acquaintances be forgotten

And never remembered

Should old acquaintance be forgotten

For old long ago

 

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

 

Translation:

For old long ago, my dear

For old long ago

We’ll take a cup of kindness yet

For old long ago

 

The Legend of the Christmas Stocking

Posted by

0

The legend of the Christmas stocking is a tale of a kind nobleman who lost all his money. He had three daughters and was worried that he could not provide them with dowries, which means wealth that a woman’s family would give to her husband before marriage. St. Nicholas heard about the nobleman’s problem and arrived at his house on Christmas night. While there, he noticed that the daughters had left their stockings over the fireplace to dry. St. Nicholas decided to fill the daughter’s stockings with gold so the daughters each had enough money to get married. It is said that they and the nobleman lived happily ever after. Though the truth of the tale cannot be proven, versions of it have been told all over the world.

Children throughout the globe hang Christmas stockings or leave out their shoes in the hope that St. Nicholas will bring them gifts on Christmas Eve. In France, shoes are put out for him to fill with treats. In Holland, children fill their shoes with hay for the horse of Sintirklass. He leaves gifts to thank the children for their kindness. Italian children have a slightly different tradition. They leave their shoes out the night before Epiphany, January 5 so the good witch will fill their shoes with treats.

Christmas stockings in America appeared in the nineteenth century, when Clement Moore wrote the famous poem “The Night Before Christmas.” That poem represented the first time stockings were hung near a chimney. Today stockings can be hung almost anywhere in American homes and often bear the name of the stocking’s owner so Santa will know where to put the goodies. Although children in the past received gifts of candy and fruit in their stockings, today’s American children may find other gifts such as toys left for them.    

 

The History of the Candy Cane

Posted by

0

The original candy canes were not shaped like the ones we know today. Instead, they were simply hard sugar sticks that were straight and their only color was white. The first evidence of the candy cane shape we have now developed in the seventeenth century. In 1670, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany bent the candy in the form of a shepherd’s staff and gave it out to children during long Christmas services. The canes at this point were still completely white.

The canes also became popular as decorations on Christmas trees throughout Europe. Americans eventually started decorating their trees with the white candy canes in the mid-nineteenth century.

It is unknown exactly who decided to put the first stripes on a candy cane, but the striped candy cane appeared after 1900. Candy makers started to include the peppermint and wintergreen flavors around the same time. Candy cane production got a boost in the 1950’s when a machine was invented to make them.

Though there is no direct historical evidence to support these claims, many Christians have given symbolic meaning to the candy cane. Some believe that its shape represents the “J” in Jesus’ name. Others believe it symbolizes a shepherd’s crook and shows how Jesus watches over his flock of believers.

The colors of the candy cane are thought by some to be symbolic also. It is believed by some people that the white of the candy cane represents the Jesus’ innocence. The red stripes are said to represent Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.